Tommy Warrilow returns to Stonebridge Road as chief scout

It will be the ex-Fleet skipper’s fourth spell with the club and his first since captaining the side to the 1993-94 Southern League Southern Division title, when he was affectionately known as ‘Texas Tom’ to supporters.

Warrilow, 50, originally joined Fleet from Torquay United in their Southern League days in 1982-83 and had a second spell in 1986-87, but both were fairly brief.

His most memorable spell came after joining towards the end of the 1992-93 season. The following campaign he played 48 times in all competitions, scoring eight times, as the Fleet topped the league under his captaincy. In all he played 82 times for the club, scoring 10 goals, and departed in the 1994-95 season.

He also played for Crawley Town, Maidstone, Sittingbourne, Leatherhead and Hythe before becoming assistant manager at Horsham.

Warrilow guided Tonbridge Angels to promotion from the Ryman Premier League to Conference South in a seven-year spell at the Longmead helm, leaving the Angels during the summer after relegation after three years’ at that level.

Fleet boss Steve Brown told www.ebbsfleetunited.co.uk: “We need to have an experienced individual who knows football at this level and who I can trust to assess opposition teams and to generally scout for players.

“Tommy has a wealth of experience at this level and is a fantastic addition to my management team and I am really looking forward to working with him.”

The Fleet are in sixth-place in the Vanarama Conference South table after winning their first two league games to the new season.

Brown’s side defeated Thurrock (2-0) and Havant &Waterlooville (1-0) and travel to Whitehawk next Saturday.

Visit Ebbsfleet United’s website: www.ebbsfleetunited.co.uk